The Impact of Voice Search on SEO
Ashwani Fotedar
Founder/Director @ BrainMine | Digital Marketing | Web Dev | SEO | Branding
With the convenience, pace, and ease of search they offer, voice searches have emerged as a significant trend in the ever-evolving world of SEO. Call them game-changing, and we’d agree with it! Now, why’s that? Voice searches register nearly a billion searches every month. Besides, 25-30 percent of smartphone users prefer using voice commands to search for something digitally. Out of that, 54-56 percent of people use them to find local businesses – the near me types.
So now, as a business eyeing SEO, you can imagine the opportunities you may be able to capitalize on by being voice-search-friendly. Although numbers speak for themselves, you should explore the horizon beyond them. Thus, let’s examine the impact of voice search on SEO with BrainMine, a trusted SEO expert in Mumbai .
How Can Voice Search Impact Your SEO Strategy?
Making your website or mobile app voice-search-friendly is necessary, given the various shifts these searches have been bringing in SEO. Let’s look at a few.
Long-tail keywords have always been crucial for SEO. And now, with the rise of voice searches, they’ve become more significant than ever. However, why is it so??
Voice searches take less effort than written searches. While saying something, a user tends to say it in complete sentences. Let’s look at it through an example. For instance, Alexa, where can I find the best Chinese restaurant near me in Pune? This is a typical example of a voice search. However, while typing, the search length will condense to a few words like Chinese restaurants nearby.
Long-tail keywords represent natural language patterns and serve the users’ specific search intent. If that’s so, one of the first things you should do is integrate voice searches into your mobile app or website.
While using voice searches, people use more natural language and ask conversational questions. A question like, Siri, where can I have a face massage near me serves as an example. On the other hand, while typing, people would be more formal and say the best face massage centers near me!?
The good thing is that search engines have adapted to understand and respond better to conversational searches. It has helped make information more accessible via virtual or voice assistants.
Voice commands encourage lengthier and more context-driven search phrases. Hence, while capturing the explicit user intent, it also deciphers the intent that drives it. For instance, searching for the best Punjabi restaurants nearby shows that the user is looking for Punjabi food and prefers going to a nearby restaurant.
Near me and nearby searches have gained momentum with the rise of voice searches by making it more convenient for users to search. Thus, with voice assistants, people simply search for options near them. However, from the SEO perspective, it marks a change in keywords with ‘nearby’ searches gaining more popularity.
Voice searches or queries are more conversational. That helps structured data provide more context. As a result, it becomes easier for search engines to display featured snippets in voice search results. These snippets appear on the top and make it easier for the user to find the information they need.
Final Words
While already ranging in billions every month, voice searches will only grow in the years and achieve a number much larger than the existing one. As an SEO expert in Mumbai, we recommend businesses, especially those looking to leverage local business opportunities to be voice-ready. Now, how can they do that? That’s another topic of discussion for which you need the best SEO company in Pune by your side.
So, email us at [email protected] to allow our experts to connect with you and help you navigate the landscape of voice searches in your context.